the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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New Living Translation
Nahum 3:16
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You have many traders who go places and buy things. They are as many as the stars in the sky. They are like locusts that come and eat until everything is gone and then leave.
You have made your traders more numerous than the stars of heaven— The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
Your traders are more than the stars in the sky, but like locusts, they strip the land and then fly away.
You have multiplied your merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm ravages, and flees away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm spoileth, and flieth away.
You have increased your traders more than the [visible] stars of heaven— The creeping locust strips and destroys and then flies away.
You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away.
Thou madist thi marchaundises mo than ben sterris of heuene; a bruke is spred abrood, and flei awei.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.
More merchants are in your city than there are stars in the sky— but they are like locusts that eat everything, then fly away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm ravageth, and fleeth away.
Let your traders be increased more than the stars of heaven:
You had more merchants than stars in the sky. The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants more than the stars of the heavens; the cankerworm spreadeth himself out and flieth away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven; the canker-worm spreadeth itself, and flieth away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants aboue the starres of heauen; the cankerworme spoileth & flieth away.
You have more traders than the stars of heaven. The locust destroys everything from the land and flies away.
You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
Thou hast multiplied thy marchantes aboue the starres of heauen: the locust spoileth and flyeth away.
You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the heaven; the young locust swarms and flies away.
Though thou have multiplied thy foot-soldiers beyond the stars of the heavens, the grass locust, hath stript itself and flown away!
Thou hast multiplied thy merchandises above the stars of heaven: the bruchus hath spread himself and flown away.
You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
Thou hast increased thy marchauntes as the starres of heauen, the locust spoyleth, and fleeth away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the palmerworm has attacked it, and has flown away.
You produced more merchants than there are stars in the sky! But now they are gone, like locusts that spread their wings and fly away.
You have made your merchantsmore numerous than the stars of the sky.The young locust strips the landand flies away.
You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and fleeth away.
You have increased your merchants more than the stars of heaven; like the locust they will shed their skin and fly away.
You have increased your merchants above the stars of the heavens; the locust larvae shall strip off and fly away.
Multiply thy merchants above the stars of the heavens, The cankerworm hath stripped off, and doth flee away.
Thy marchauntes haue bene mo then the starres of heaue: but now shal they sprede abrode as the locustes, and fle their waye:
Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth Doom to Murder City— full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence! Horns blaring, wheels clattering, horses rearing, chariots lurching, Horsemen galloping, brandishing swords and spears, Dead bodies rotting in the street, corpses stacked like cordwood, Bodies in every gutter and alley, clogging every intersection! And whores! Whores without end! Whore City, Fatally seductive, you're the Witch of Seduction, luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells. "I'm your enemy, Whore Nineveh— I, God -of-the-Angel-Armies! I'll strip you of your seductive silk robes and expose you on the world stage. I'll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth of who you really are and have been all along. I'll pelt you with dog dung and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.' Everyone who sees you will gag and say, ‘Nineveh's a pigsty: What on earth did we ever see in her? Who would give her a second look? Ugh!'" Do you think you're superior to Egyptian Thebes, proudly invincible on the River Nile, Protected by the great River, walled in by the River, secure? Ethiopia stood guard to the south, Egypt to the north. Put and Libya, strong friends, were ready to step in and help. But you know what happened to her: The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp, Her babies smashed to death in public view on the streets, Her prize leaders auctioned off, her celebrities put in chain gangs. Expect the same treatment, Nineveh. You'll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks, Wondering what hit you, looking for a place to sleep it off. All your forts are like peach trees, the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking. One shake of the tree and they fall straight into hungry mouths. Face it: Your warriors are wimps. You're sitting ducks. Your borders are gaping doors, inviting your enemies in. And who's to stop them? Store up water for the siege. Shore up your defenses. Get down to basics: Work the clay and make bricks. Sorry. Too late. Enemy fire will burn you up. Swords will cut you to pieces. You'll be chewed up as if by locusts. Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate, for you yourselves are a locust plague. You've multiplied shops and shopkeepers— more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky! A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood and then flying off. Your bureaucrats are locusts, your brokers and bankers are locusts. Early on, they're all at your service, full of smiles and promises, But later when you return with questions or complaints, you'll find they've flown off and are nowhere to be found. King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders, in charge of caring for your people, Are busy doing everything else but. They're not doing their job, And your people are scattered and lost. There's no one to look after them. You're past the point of no return. Your wound is fatal. When the story of your fate gets out, the whole world will applaud and cry "Encore!" Your cruel evil has seeped into every nook and cranny of the world. Everyone has felt it and suffered.
Increase your merchants more than the stars of heaven! They are like the young locust which sheds its skin and flies away.
You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away.
You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven— The creeping locust strips and flies away.
You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven—The creeping locust strips and flies away.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
above: Genesis 15:5, Genesis 22:17, Nehemiah 9:23, Jeremiah 33:22
spoileth: or, spreadeth himself
Reciprocal: Ezekiel 30:21 - it shall not
Cross-References
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.
Then the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."
"Who told you that you were naked?" the Lord God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?"
The man replied, "It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."
Then he said to the woman, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."
And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven,.... A hyperbolical expression, setting forth the great number of merchants that were in Nineveh, and in the land of Assyria; who either were the natives of the place, or came thither for the sake of merchandise, which serve to enrich a nation, and therefore are encouraged to settle; and from whom, in a time of war, much benefit might be expected; being able to furnish with money, which is the sinews of war, as well as to give intelligence of the designs of foreign princes, they trading abroad:
the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away; or "puts off" c its clothes, disrobes and changes its form; or breaks out with force, as the Septuagint, out of its former worm state, and appears a beautiful butterfly, and then flies away. The word is rendered a caterpillar,
Psalms 105:34 and what we translate "spoileth" is used of stripping, or putting off of clothes, 1 Samuel 19:24 and the sense may be, that though their merchants were multiplied above the stars of heaven, in which there may be an allusion to the increase of caterpillars, Nahum 3:15 yet, as the caterpillar drops its clothes, and flies away, so their merchants, through fear of the enemy, would depart in haste, or be suddenly stripped of their riches, which make themselves wings, and fly away, Proverbs 23:5. These merchants, at their beginning, might be low and mean, but, increasing, adorning, and enriching themselves in a time of peace, fled away in a time of war: or, "spreads itself" d, and "flies away"; so these creatures spread themselves on the earth, and devour all they can, and then spread their wings, and are gone; suggesting that in like manner the merchants of Nineveh would serve them; get all they could by merchandise among them, and then betake themselves elsewhere and especially in a time of war, which is prejudicial to merchandise; and hence nothing was to be expected from them, or any dependence had upon them.
c ×¤×©× "exspoliavit", De Dieu; "proprie est, exuere, vestem detrahere et exspoliare", De Dieu. d "Diffundit se", Munster, so the Targum; "effunditur", Cocceius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven - Not numerous only but glorious in the eyes of the world, and, as thou deemest, safe and inaccessible; yet in an instant all is gone.
The commerce of Nineveh was carried back to prehistoric times, since its rivers bound together the mountains of Armenia with the Persian gulf, and marked out the line, by which the distant members of the human family should supply each othersâ needs. âSemiramisâ they say , âbuilt other cities on the Euphrates and the Tigris, where she placed emporia for those who convey their goods from Media and Paraetacene. Being mighty rivers and passing through a populous country, they yield many advantages to those employed in commerce; so that the places by the river are full of wealthy emporia.â The Phoenicians traced back their Assyrian commerce (and as it seems, truly) to those same prehistoric times, in which they alleged, that they themselves migrated from the Persian gulf. They commenced at once, they said , the long voyages, in which they transported the wares of Egypt and Assyria. The building of âTadmor in the wildernessâ 1 Kings 9:18 on the way to Tiphsach (Thapsacus) the utmost bound of Solomonâs dominions (1 Kings 5:4 1 Kings 4:24), connected Palestine with that commerce.
The great route for couriers and for traffic, extending for 1,500 or 1,600 miles in later times, must have lain through Nineveh, since, although no mention is made of the city which had perished, the route lay across the two rivers , the greater and lesser Zab, of which the greater formed the Southern limit of Nineveh. Those two rivers led up to two mountain-passes which opened a way to Media and Agbatana; and pillars at the summit of the N. pass attest the use of this route over the Zagros chain about 700 b.c. . Yet a third and easier pass was used by Nineveh, as is evidenced by another monument, of a date as yet undetermined . Two other lines connected Nineveh with Syria and the West. Northern lines led doubtless to Lake Wan and the Black Sea . The lists of plunder or of tribute, carried off during the world-empire of Egypt, before it was displaced by Assyria, attest the extensive imports or manufactures of Nineveh ; the titles of âAssyrian nard, Assyrian amomum, Assyrian odors, myrrh, frankincense , involve its trade with the spice countries: domestic manufactures of hers apparently were purple or dark-blue cloaks, embroidery, brocades, and these conveyed in chests of cedar; her metallurgy was on principles recognized now; in one practical point of combining beauty with strength, she has even been copied .
A line of commerce, so marked out by nature in the history of nations, is not changed, unless some preferable line be discovered. Empires passed away, but, at the end of the 13th century a.d., trade and manufacture continued their accustomed course and habitation. The faith in Jesus had converted the ancient paganism; the heresy of Mohammedanism disputed with the faith for the souls of men; but the old material prosperity of the world held its way. Mankind still wanted the productions of each othersâ lands. The merchants of Nineveh were to be dispersed and were gone: itself and its remembrance were to be effaced from the earth, and it was so; in vain was a new Nineveh built by the Romans; that also disappeared; but so essential was its possession for the necessities of commerce, that Mosul, a large and populous town, arose over against its mounds, a city of the living over-against its buried glories; and, as our goods are known in China by the name of our great manufacturing capital, so a delicate manufacture imposed on the languages of Europe (Italian, Spanish, French, English, German) the name of Mosul .
Even early in this century, under a mild governor, an important commerce passed through Mosul, from India, Persia, Kurdistan, Syria, Natolia, Europe . And when European traffic took the line of the Isthmus ef Suez, the communication with Kurdistan still secured to it an important and exclusive commerce. The merchants of Nineveh were dispersed and gone. The commerce continued over-against its grave.
The cankerworm spoileth and fleeth away - Better, âthe locust hath spread itself abroad (marauded) and is flown.â The prophet gives, in three words, the whole history of Nineveh, its beginning and its end. He had before foretold its destruction, though it should be oppressive as the locust; he had spoken of its commercial wealth; he adds to this, that other source of its wealth, its despoiling warfares and their issue. The pagan conqueror rehearsed his victory, âI came, saw, conquered.â The prophet goes further, as the issue of all human conquest, âI disappeared.â The locust (Nineveh) spread itself abroad (the word is always used of an inroad for plunder , destroying and wasting, everywhere: it left the world a desert, and was gone. Ill-gotten wealth makes one poor, not rich. Truly they who traffic in this world, are more in number than they who, seeking treasure in heaven, shall shine as the stars forever and ever. âFor many are called, but few, are chosen.â And when all the stars of light âshall abide and praise God Psalms 148:3, these men, though multiplied like the locust, shall, like the locust, pass away, destroying and destroyed. They abide for a while in the chillness of this world; when the Sun of righteousness ariseth, they vanish. This is the very order of Godâs Providence. As truly as locusts, which in the cold and dew are chilled and stiffened, and cannot spread their wings, fly away when the sun is hot and are found no longer, so shalt thou be dispersed and thy place not anymore be known . It was an earnest of this, when the Assyrians, like locusts, had spread themselves around Jerusalem in a dark day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy Isaiah 37:3, God was entreated and they were not. Midian came up like the grasshopper for multitude Judges 6:4-5; Judges 7:12. In the morning they had fled Judges 7:21. What is the height of the sons of hen? or how do they spread themselves abroad?â At the longest, after a few years it is but as the locust spreads himself and flees away, no more to return.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Nahum 3:16. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants — Like Tyre, this city was a famous resort for merchants; but the multitudes which were there previously to the siege, like the locusts, took the alarm, and fled away.
